Flickr Photos

Simon Singh has won! Send money.

Anti-vaccine toll, U.S.

Worse or worst

June 10, 2009 — monado

The blinkered, single-issue, “pro-life” commenters with their “Tiller deserved it” hate speech need to look at “A Heartbreaking Choice.” No one is pro-abortion. Late abortions are done for dire medical reasons. Unfortunately, sometimes there’s just the choice between worse and worst.

That is the most severe surviving case of Treacher-Collins syndrome, who was featured in The Learning Channel’s “Without a Face.” Sometimes the only sign of the syndrome is drooping eyelids from malformation of the eye socket. That’s why doctors will wait and get another scan for some birth defects: the severity varies enormously–and the hesitation causes late abortions. The technicians who did her ultrasound supposedly didn’t believe that the image they were getting was accurate and assumed that they just missed seeing the face properly. I’m surprised they didn’t do another scan. Anyway, when the child was born she was like that, with no eye sockets and very little upper jaw. She does have sight in one eye. She had about 11 operations to allow her to breathe, save the sight of the usable eye, and perhaps to feed normally instead of through a tube.

She has had about thirty operations now and is a young girl of normal intelligence. However, her life will never be easy and goodness knows what her health care costs.

OK, I’ve looked her up: Juiana Wetmore is about five now. She has more of a face thanks to surgery but still can’t close her mouth. She still has a tracheotomy tube and at least two full-time nurses. An adult has to be nearby at all times to suction out her trach tube if necessary. She has some hearing and can say a few words, due to the shape of her mouth. She knows some sign language, probably American Sign Language. She is smart and I think she goes to a regular school. The continuing surgeries are aimed and giving her more function and letting her breath without a trach tube.

The parents were told they could decide to have an abortion at 24 weeks but since the doctors couldn’t say just what would be wrong the parents decided to continue. In the TV show, however, the mother said that she had been helping to raise awareness of the syndrome and fewer severely affected babies were being born. That probably means that their parents are deciding on abortions. You can’t wish a child away once born, but by abortion you might prevent a lifetime of suffering and give parents a chance to have a normal child and be able to give his or her siblings the attention they also deserve.

It is amazing to me that the majority of people believe a life is not legitimate unless lived out in a beautiful shell. The human being is the part you can’t see- the spirit- the soul. There’s nothing wrong with Juliana’s soul. It’s just as valuable as anyone’s- maybe more so than those who believe she should have been killed because of her appearance. Of course she has suffered, as has her family. But so have many others- as the result of accidents or crimes that couldn’t be prevented. So I guess the rationale here is because you CAN prevent this particular tragedy you are justified in killing a baby because her appearance is not pleasing to you. With that logic, if you had prior knowledge your 16 year old daughter was going to be in a car accident that would cripple her for the rest of her life, you should just kill her before she drives off in the car…?

Whatever, monado, how about you actually answer D. Day’s question instead of attacking like some kind of Alinsky troll. It’s a fair point: at what point does a person have rights to life? Obviously D. Day thinks it starts at conception; you obviously think it occurs later, though you don’t state where (you just call people like D. Day ‘idiot,’ which is all kinds of classy, and DEFINITELY makes someone wanna stick around to read what further pearls of kindness you have yet to squat out) or when those rights begin.

Just a thought. I won’t be back to read your reply, because I think you’re a self-righteous idiot.

Do have tunnel vision? Are you mentally handicapped? If you read the words at the top of this page you *should* understand that the point it is trying to make is that yes, abortion is tragic! BUT ITS NOT BLACK AND WHITE. You obviously dont understand this. Sure she has a soul just as valid and beautiful as yours or mine or anyones. The point people here are trying to make, that you are too dim apparently to grasp- is that a LIFETIME of struggling to breathe, constant pneumonia and infections and asthma from inhaling food, not to mention countless other problems- may not be a better choice. You dont know what this childs life is like.

Its MY belief that a parent who chooses to bring a child that is so horrendously, painfully deformed, into this world, forcing them to content with who knows what- with an endless string of painful operations, bone stretching, eye surgeries, etc etc etc etc etc, all the while struggling to EAT OR BREATHE- is a selfish decision, made by parents who want so badly to give love to a baby, theyre willing to allow this kind of suffering. Sure, no parent wants this, no parent wants the burdens or costs or heartache, but saying they did it just because “they are so pure and loving” isnt usually true in my opinion. I believe the women who make the extremely tragic decision of ending a pregnancy like this ARE DOING THIS SOUL A FAVOR. Releasing them to God or whatever you believe, to not suffer this fate a single day. If you believe in souls, then why not believe those souls can get a second chance to come to earth- and able to breathe and eat and have some kind of quality of life.
You are missing the point- what is a life without any quality of life?

Juliana Wetmore just turned 7. She is still disfigured, but does have a face now, and is soon to have surgery number 39. From what her parents say she is a happy girl. She will never look 100% “normal”, but she will look better. With advances of medicine, I think that one day she will be fine. They just did a face transplant, they can fix hers. Here is a link. She looks a lot better than her baby pics.

The Out Campaign

“Atheism is a religion like 'not collecting stamps' is a hobby.”
―Penn Jillette“If atheism is a religion, then bald is a hair color” ―Mark Schnitzius"If atheism is a religion, then health is a disease!" —Clark Adams